Pregnancy & Parenting

Ok so I would like to know everyone's opinion. Does it really help with weight lost and will your breasts sag if you do it? What are the other pros and cons?

Breastfeeding is extremely healthy for the baby. You can even put it in bottles if you prefer. Not everyone's breasts sag...no one I know who has had children have saggy breasts and most of them have large breasts. I remember this one girl n high school, after her second kid (I know... >.<) her boobs forever 'poked' through her shirts/bra. I kinda felt bad/embarrassed for her.

Your breasts sag due to lack of support throughout a time period, not breastfeeding, There are tiny strands of ligament material that support your breasts, if you don't support them early in life, they will start to sag. As far as breast feeding goes...there is no better way to nourish your child, and yes weight comes off easier while breast feeding because your body convertsfats into the good stuff for your baby....Not only is it healthy for your infant but it helps combat things like obesity, childhood diabetes, and many other health concerns for your child as it grows. BREAST IS BEST!

I'll be the unpopular one and say: Do what feels right for you.  There a lot of benefits to breastfeeding but sometimes it doesnt work out the way you hope it will.  Don't let anyone guilt trip you into being miserable or feeling like a failure if you choose not to breast feed.  Your baby can be equally as fussy on breastmilk as formula.  Your breastfed baby can still get food allergies and ear infections.  It is not a magic formula for success.  You need to do whats right for both of you physically and mentally. A happy formula feeding mom is better for her baby than a miserable breastfeeding mom. 

While everyone is talking about how Great Breastfeeding is here are some Con's to formula!!

1. It drains your Wallet.  The average year on Formula costs about $1000-$2000 http://www.breastfeeding.org/bfacts/costs.htm l

2. The amount of time saved with using formula is wasted with more trips to the doctor. More anti biotics and more Vaccines (yes there are vaxes a baby doesn't need if they are BF)

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/prepare/bfco stbenefits.html#healthcare

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Rally/Breastfe eding.htm

3. Formula companies are Evil. They work very hard to destroy the breastfeeding relationship.They recently killed the Ad campaign promoting breastfeeding because they didn't want to be liable for guilt put on mother's who chose formula.In foreign countries they often lie to new moms who do not have the resrouces to afford clean water and formula. Their babies usually Die within the first few years of life from either starvation or water born diseases.

http://www.babymilkaction.org/

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?re s=9A03E1DC173DF937A35751C1A9659C8B63

In the US the are continuously violating provisions of the WHO Code on Artificial Breastmilk substitutes. They often make false claims about the products ECT.

http://www.ibfan.org/english/resource/who/ful lcode.html

 

 

 

I think the number one tihng is get thee to a la leche league NOW.

The doctors are probably better than they were when my babies were born - but I got stuff like -

Need to supplement - baby lost weight after birth - well my babies were born with a layer of fat -- that is natures way of fueling them until the milk comes in [because the first few days is only colustrum]

Baby is too thin - put her on formula start feeding her - doctor wanted to?  Hmmm head growth and length growth was normal but she was on the low end of the charts in weight - - -  she was also very alert, not colicky, ne health problems.  [hey is the chiling peeing and pooping enough, that will tell you] - weight is based on charts of what is "normative" we all know what that tells us.

The hospital gave us formula, water, etc.  With the 1st one we did not know better and let the nurses give her water, with the 2nd one, a bottle never touched her lips

Each baby and each set of circumstances is different. Number one is to take care of yourself during pregnancy -- I read staying away from plastics may be good right now --- there are concerns with plasticizers messing up with hormones in babies systems..............

If it winds up not workikng, you are not a failure, but for the vast majority of folks it is very natural.

For your nipples - I am serious, start tugging at them, twisting them, pinching them, etc.  If you toughten them up throughout the pregnancy, the will not crack and bleed and get sore.  I did this and had zero problems, but a friend did not and it was hell.

You got great advice from a lot of people on here.  I will try to make this short.  I had a VERY similar problem like manta515.

Except...I started pumping as soon as I noticed there was a problem.  I pumped like it was nobody's business.  I ended up having such a great supply that my daughter NEVER received one drop of formula, EVER!!  I exclusively pumped my breastmilk for 12 months and she received breastmilk for 15 months. 

I had 3 months worth of milk left after I was done and threw GARBAGE BAGS FULL of pumped milk (I couldn't donate and didn't have the storage space) away.  That was hard to do...it was like throwing away a paycheck.

So, just so you know it IS an option.  I was very disturbed by the local lactation consultant telling me, "There is no way you are going to be able to pump exclusively and have enough for her." Haha, did I show her!  I had enough for 2 kids.  It was tough but now, I barely remember any of the inconvenience because I KNEW what I was doing was the BEST I could ever do for my daughter and I still consider that to be my greatest accomplishment in life.

I can't wait to tell her this whole story when she is grown. 

Good luck.  What helped me through this, personally, was the message boards over at ivillage.com

They have a breastfeeding message board and an exclusively pumping board (which I don't know what I wouldve done without).

@longwaytogo!!

I did the same thing to my nipples.  Kind of abused them for the last months while in shower.  I used a spa sponge and roughly washed them to toughen them up

It is reccommended that dont do any thing like this to early as it can bring on preterm labour.

start taking classes right now.  Get educated on how to breastfeed.  If you have never seen a woman bfeed then try to get to a lll meeting.

all babies no matter what they weigh lose weight after they are born.  The first 3 days only producing colostrum then your milk comes in.  Babies dont need formula during this time as the nursing stimulates milk production.  Also the faster after birth you can nurse the better.

A few pros not yet mentioned is every month without a period the less your bodies are likely to get breast cancer.

It is very possible to express a bottle of milk everyday and alloew your partner to feed the baby.

I hand expressed from 1 week on and my husband had baby in evening while I slept.

Breastfeeding has a lot of pros and cons as many of the ladies already mentioned.  The best thing for me was bonding with my babies.  I have a girl 5 and boy almost 3.

There is just one thing I would like to get across.  Breastfeeding isn't for everyone. Don't get disappointed if it doesn't work out or let anyone think that you are a bad mother because of not breastfeeding.

Like some of the other ladies mentioned I was all out to breastfeed, unfortunately without success.  With my first child I just didn't have milk. She would latch and then start screaming cuz nothing was coming out.  I'd rather start her on the bottle than let her starve till my milk came in.  When it eventually did (not much) she wouldn't latch cuz she wasn't expecting anything to happen.  After 3 weeks of us both crying I finally got her to latch just for her to take only a couple of mouthfulls.  I just didn't have the flow. So I pumped and gave her what little I had till I had no more than a tsp to give.  Anyways she grew up just as healthy with the suppliment milk as she would breast.

Now my son was another story.  Every time the lactation consultant touched his head to try to help him latch he would scream his head off.  Strange eh but when I finally figured what the problem was it was easy enough.  The only problem was trying to fill him. I had milk this time but the nurse said it was probably too lite cuz he wouldn't fill up.  While I was having problems with the latching I extracted with a pump, so after 3 hrs with him latched on I went for the bottles.  I had 3 of about 3 ounces each.  One after the other and he still wouldn't fill.  I was like "what is going on it's like his stomache is a bottomless pit", that's when I decided to add a supplement bottle after giving him breast.  I combined the 2 gave him 30-45 mins breast and bottle after.  He was happy and I was happy.  He got my goodness and I got "some" sleep.

Well good luck and I hope things work out best for you and baby.

so now that you plan on doing it here is a great book:  the nursing mother's companion--read it and keep it handy it is useful to refer to as you move along in each stage of bf-ing.  it helps to read it before the baby gets here so you know everything you need to in order to improve the possibility of success! 

also this website has great instructional videos on how to get a good latch and lots of other great info about bfing  http://www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html 

i am a mom of premmie twins and they have NEVER touched formula--they are 20 months now and still nurse in the evening and at night.  i lost 30 pounds in the first month after they were born thanks to bf-ing them-- and was eating around the clock! 

the La Leche league website--mother to mother forums--is a great place to hang out and read as you wait for baby's arrival- you learn so much from other mammas.

congrats on that baby! and congrats on choosing to do the best thing for that baby. 

one more thing--there is NO NEED to prep your nipples in advance.  and remember i am a mom of twins.  the current research and current medical advice is that trying to prep is useless. 

what is good is letting your nipples air out and get some direct sun light everyday when you do start nursing--yes that means hanging out topless for a few minutes per day--it helps healing and prevents yeast growth.

 

I guess people can agree to disagree about nipple prep - I do think the comment about waiting until later is valid.  I

 did not have twins but I fully nursed two kids and had friends who did not do the prep have sore nipples. [no one in our Bradley class had problems]

This is a method of natural childbirth you may want to consider -

http://www.bradleybirth.com/

It is about putting YOU in control of the birthing process.  I did it for my kids but unfortunately had c-sections because they were both 3 weeks late and we could not blast them out, but my daughter went completely natural with zero drugs and it was absolutely amazing.

If you do decide to b-f, make sure you get a lactation consultant you work well with! I worked with two after the birth of my first. The first woman was perky and ultra gung ho. The second was more my style - older, not so rigid in her thought. Without her, I would have given up. Also join a lactation group of other new mothers if there is one in your area. La Leche may know where one may be. I joined one at the hospital where I gave birth. You feel more comfortable and can get others feedback on how to solve issues. Our group also had the LC's there hosting it for any more medical issues.

With both of my births, I had latch issues that lasted about 2-3 months. Yes we had to suplement - per the Dr and per the LC (lactation consultant). I had to pump after trying to nurse, feed the baby via syringe (with added formula) then pump more. It was hell. Thank goodness for my DH and my Mom-in-law helping! Not many would go through it, but by the time they (both kids) were 2 months or so, they were able to latch and I suffered no production issues since I had pumped earlier. I was able to stop supplementing fairly early on.

So, if the Dr and the LC agree to suplement - you are not a failure at b-f'ing. You may just need a little help in the beginning. Oh - and those hormones after birth can just make you sob - a LOT. So if now the prospect of possibly supplementing seems logical to you - it may not then - the hormones may kick in. Just remind yourself that you and the baby are doing the best you can.

Having said that, some women have no issues what so ever. I did have issues at first, so that is what I am able to speak about.

Since I went back to work after 3 months and I planned to b-f for an extended time (18 months or so), I pumped 3-4 times at work. If you intend to pump - invest in a really good pump. I loved my Medela - well both of them. The first pregnancy, I had the old double pump Medela. For the second I got the backpack and LOVED it (in addition to the hospital rental that was better than mine forthe first few months until the second child had learned to latch on his own). The deal with b-milk is supply generally keeps up with demand, but a baby is the best pump out there. So, a pump will always be second best. Initially (with the baby and the pump) my body did not know quite what to do, but it got used to both and produced quickly.

As for leaking - I did not really leak much for the first, but the second, my left side would occasionally have leakage. I just used pads. They have washable ones and disposable. If you leak heavily, you should make sure to change them out frequently. If a light leaker, just keep an eye on the pads. I used washable for my first and a combo of washable and disposable for the second. They both have positives and negatives.

Good Luck!!

 

Oh - Hypno Birthing is cool too - again, I had extenuating circumstances (emergency c-section for the second), but it still worked well with helping me emotionally.

 

I hate to tell you this but once you get pregnant your breasts will never be the same again so you shouldn't worry about that as a reason for breastfeeding , it will help with the weight as you can eat an extra 500 cal a day and not gain a single pound , there are so many benefits to breast feeding one of them is that your baby will continue to be immune to what ever you have been exposed to so there is less chances of them being sick ...and formula is very expensive....believe me I ended up with a nasty flu hat I was nearly hospitalized ( never affected my little one) but after that my body just stopped producing the hormone that tells your body to make milk (or so the doctors tell me) so after being on meds to make my body make milk I ended up weaning my daughter a 5 1/2 months (really disapointing ) so now we are on formula and wow it's not cheap but what can you do ....I did a lot of reading about BF, I got books from the library...also GET A LACTATION CONSULTANT! and if you have to, get a nipple shield.. my daughter had difficulty latching on properly (very important) so I got very sore ,it does not take long ..the nipple shield taught her to latch properly.... anyhow I loved breastfeeding totally recommend it and remember that it can take up to a week for your milk to come in so don't give up .....also some nurses complainabout the nipple shield and don't think you should use it ....but I say if it will allow you to BF  then who gives a #$%@ after all my little one weened herself off it after about a week and a half and then was latching correctly..anyway hope all goes well for you ! 

along with almost everyone else, i (and my 10 month old daughter) say yes, yes, yes! breastfeeding is the way to go.  one more pro to add:

helps with postpartum depression!  during my worst periods of ppd, nursing my baby really soothed me and helped my stay sane. 

trust your body - we are made to breastfeed our babies.  if your body can grow a whole new human being in 9 months, you can trust it to provide milk too.  there is a huge psycological component to nursing, so be confident!  you can do it! 

I agree with the psycological aspect of nursing.  When I decided to breastfeed, Formula wasn't goign to touch my DS"s lips. I didn't care what I had to do, if if that meant donated breastmilk. Ibreastfed my DS until he was over 3 years old. 

On the other hand I had a friend who sheepishly said "She would try it"...3 weeks PP her baby fully on formula. She she wasn't sure he ws getting enough, so she gave her baby bottles. 

Also women who deliver at home and in birth centers are more likely to have a successful breasfeeding relationship.  Its funny because the women I know who deliver outside of the hosptial wouldn't trust big pharma enough to feed their babes. LOL.

 

I have not read all the other posts,  I am very pro breastfeeding.  As far as losing weight, I wish I was as skinny now as I was when I was breastfeeding.  I lost all my baby weight 4 mos after my baby was born and kept losing.  One of my friends said I was "boobs on a stick" I have never had such a great figure as I did when I was breastfeeding and I ate whatever I wanted.

ONe of the great myths is that breastfeeding makes your breasts sag, it is actually pregnancy that can make your breasts sag, look it up.

I breast fed three kids.  The first two nursed for 2 1/2 years.  The last one nursed for 16 mos.  It is the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby.  You'll lose baby weight, you'll develop a strong physical and emotional bond with your baby that will last forever.  There are multiple health benefits for both mom and baby.  For mom, reduced risk for certain types of breast cancer, faster baby weight loss and contractions induced by breast feeding reduces your waist line faster.  For baby, lower incidence of allergies and asthma, stronger immune system, etc.  Plus, have you calculated the costs of formula these days?  You'll spend up to $40 a month or more on baby formula in the first year.  Add that to the cost of diapers, wipes, etc.

By the way, your breasts will sag anyway just just from the weight gain and loss from pregnancy and aging- it depends on your genes.  I have friends who didn't breastfeed for vanity reasons (which I can't relate to) and their breasts are no perkier than mine are after nursing for years.  There is no question - breast milk is best.

I am a HUGE breast feeding advicate.  but...sometimes if a woman, for whatever reason can't or choses not obr BF they are made to feel lesser of a mom or that they don't love thier baby as much.  Please remember that when talking.

I nursed each of my 3 children for a year and loved every second of it and would make the same choice again.  Yes, I feel every woman should, but if they decide not to we shouldn't make them feel they are setting their child up for  a life of crime and stupidity.  most people my age (38) were given formula and we turned out ok...